Biography

Introduction

The Electric Soft Parade are a Brighton-based psych-pop band, comprising siblings Alex and Thomas White, the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians with whom they record and perform live, most recently including Matthew Twaites on bass and Damo Waters on drums.

Career

The Brothers' debut, Holes in the Wall, was issued via DB Records (a subsidiary of BMG) in February 2002. With A&R and production from Chris Hughes, the album spawned two UK top-forty hits, performances on Top Of The Pops, Popworld, T4 (Channel 4) and Later With Jools Holland and a world-tour covering Europe, Japan and Australasia. Though they lost out to Ms. Dynamite at the 2002 Mercury Music Prize, they later won the Q Award for Best New Act.

The bands' second LP, The American Adventure appeared in October 2003 on BMG Records. Largely a response to their treatment at the hands of BMG (DB had by this point folded despite substantial sales, and the band had been automatically up-streamed), the album was seen as too much of a departure, and the band were dropped.

Around this time, Alex and Thomas began collaborating with British Sea Power's ex-keyboardist Eamon Hamilton and bassist Marc Beatty, of The Tenderfoot. After several name changes the band settled on Brakes, and in January 2005 signed to Rough Trade. To date they have released three critically acclaimed albums - two with Rough Trade (2005's Give Blood and 2006's The Beatific Visions) and one with Fat Cat Records (2009's Touchdown).

The Electric Soft Parade returned in late 2005 with the six-track The Human Body EP on Truck Records. The U.S. version of The Human Body EP was released in May 2006 on Better Looking Records (their first official US release). ESP made their first U.S. appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in March 2006. A third full album was released in April 2007. Entitled No Need to Be Downhearted, it was named after a lyric from The Fall's song "15 Ways" from their Middle Class Revolt album). The album was entirely self-produced, using Truck Records' rudimentary Portakabin studio in the Oxford countryside.

In March and April 2007 they made their second visit to the South by Southwest Festival, took part in a tribute to Billy MacKenzie at Shepherds Bush Empire in aid of Sound Seekers, and played a UK tour. There was also an extensive U.S. tour in May and June 2007 with Brakes and Pela.

July and August 2007 saw appearances at UK and European festivals in Holland, Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany. The final single to be taken from No Need to Be Downhearted, "Appropriate Ending", was released on 26 November as a digital download. It includes two covers, "Happiness" originally by Elliott Smith and "Friends Of The Heroes" by The Aislers Set. The band toured from October to December 2007 with shows in France, Belgium, Spain, United Kingdom and Germany. The beginning of 2008 saw shows in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France including dates supporting Ian Brown.

On 11 June 2008, The Electric Soft Parade supported Sparks at their Hello Young Lovers show - the last of a 20 concert extravaganza at the Islington Academy, London. As of this show, the band has been on indefinite hiatus.

Summer 2008 saw Thomas White release and tour his solo debut album, I Dream Of Black, released on 14 July through Drift Records in the UK, and Better Looking Records in the U.S. A follow-up is expected in early 2010.

Alex White is currently co-writing, arranging and drumming on a new Pipettes album, whilst Thomas has spent much of 2009 touring and recording with Patrick Wolf.

Discography

Albums

Holes in the Wall (DB Records CD/LP, February 2002) UK #35
The American Adventure (BMG CD/LP, October 2003) UK #45
No Need to Be Downhearted (Truck Records/Better Looking Records CD, April 2007) UK #163

Singles

"Silent To The Dark" / "Something's Got To Give" (DB Records CD/7" Single, April 2001)
"Empty At The End" / "Sumatran" (DB Records CD/7" Single, July 2001) UK #65
"There's A Silence" (DB Records CD/7" Single, October 2001) UK #52
"Silent To The Dark II" (DB Records CD/7" Single, March 2002) UK #23
"Empty At The End" / "This Given Line" (DB Records CD/7" Single, May 2002) UK# 39
"Same Way, Every Day" (DB Records CD/7" Single, September 2002)
"Things I've Done Before" (BMG 7" Single, September 2003)
"Lose Yr Frown" (BMG 7" Single, November 2003)
"The Human Body EP" (Truck Records CD, November 2005)
"Life In The Back-Seat" (Truck Records 7" Single, October 2006)
"If That's The Case, Then I Don't Know" (Truck Records 7" Single, March 2007)
"Misunderstanding" (Truck Records 7" Single, July 2007)
"Appropriate Ending EP" (Truck Records Download, November 2007)